Star Trek: I, Borg

Episode: "I, Borg"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 5, Episode 23

Original Air Date: May 10, 1992

via Memory Alpha

An away team discovers an injured Borg drone (Jonathan Del Arco) in a ship wreckage.  While Riker wishes to abandon him for the Borg to collect and Worf advises killing him outright, Dr. Crusher's compassion prevails.  The drone is brought aboard the Enterprise to heal.  Both Picard and Guinan must confront their traumatic histories with the Borg.  Meanwhile, in his effort to create a virus to implant in the prisoner, La Forge befriends the drone and even gives him a name: Hugh.  Hugh emerges as an individual and that changes everything.

Without question, this is one of the greats.  If "Darmok" is the entire Star Trek concept boiled down to a 42-minute vignette, "I, Borg" is the episode which affirms that concept's adherence to the most important Next Generation story.  After "The Best of Both Worlds," the writers weren't sure how to bring the Borg back.  What do you do with an adversary who is darn near invincible?  Writer René Echevarria found the answer.  When conventional methods won't work, you find the Star Trek way to win.

And let's be clear, the original virus idea was neither conventional nor Star Trek.  It would have been a flat out war crime.  With all its tolerance preaching, Trek still tends to view alien species in monochromatic terms, especially the recurring antagonists.  The Klingons are all this way.  The Romulans are all that way.  It's human nature.  When all you know of a culture is its military, you tend to miss the nuances.  But surely there are peace-loving civilians on Klingon.  No doubt, there are artists and musicians on Romulus who have never touched a phaser.  To paraphrase Fareed Zakaria (I think), most intelligent beings want a better life for their children and for someone to pick up the trash and fix the potholes.  But Trek rarely digs that deep.

(Yes, DS9 will eventually try.  But even that series could have done more.)

The Borg are the ultimate expression of this unfortunate Star Trek tendency.  In the collective, the individual is irrelevant.  The genocidal impulse defines the entire existence of their culture.  As such, biological warfare briefly passes for a justifiable course of action.

The brilliance of "I, Borg" lies in its challenge to the narrative concept of the Borg.  Hugh learns from Geordi that not everyone wishes to be assimilated - a genuine surprise to him.  From Guinan, Hugh learns that resistance is, in fact, not always futile.  From Hugh, the others are able to see past the desire for vengeance.  As he softens, they soften.  

The friendship between Hugh and Geordi is genuinely touching.  Hugh turning his head to Geordi one last time as he and the other drones are transported away...  It's one of the most moving moments in the franchise.

Del Arco nailed it, one of the best guest star performances in the NextGen run.  We'll dig deeper into his story in a moment but this is worth sharing first because of its direct pertinence to the narrative.  Del Arco based his portrayal of Hugh on his first partner, Eddie, who had recently died of AIDS.  He channeled his own grief into the part as well.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Jonathan Del Arco was born in Uruguay, March 7, 1966.  His family moved to Port Chester, New York when he was ten years old.  He entered the theatre world straight out of high school, winning a part in a touring production of Torch Song Trilogy.  He made his Broadway debut in 1988 in Spoils of War.  

Television work began in 1990.  In addition to Trek, he made guest appearances on Miami Vice, The Wonder Years and Blossom.  Later, he played the same principal role, Dr. Morales, in two separate series: The Closer and Major Crimes.  He has, to date, made five more Trek appearances, four times as Hugh - once in NextGen, three times in Picard.  Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) is one of his best friends.  He helped her prepare to reprise her own Voyager role in Picard.

Del Arco is a prominent political activist, particularly favoring both environmental and gay rights issues.  He has worked on numerous Presidential and Senatorial campaigns.  He is married to Kyle Fritz, a talent manager.